Labour Internationalism in Context Small and Large

This postface reflects upon the conceptual scope of the present edited volume on the internationalisation of the labour question. It offers two main lines of consideration: First, it critically evaluates the older traditions of research on labour internationalism, their crisis since the 1990s, and their subsequent revitalisation through transnational and global perspectives. The present volume is discussed as part of these efforts which currently point to the need of systematically and comprehensively contextualising all experiences of labour-related international organisations in a broader sphere of internationalism. Second, the postface stresses the need to situate studies on the internationalisation of the labour question in the context of general political and economic conditions. Taking up cues from both Arno J. Mayer and Antonio Gramsci, cycles of internationalisation and de-internationalisation are understood in terms of ‘revolution’, ‘counterrevolution’ and ‘passive revolutions’.